CGI Tricks Can Put You In Your Favorite Flicks

Always wanted to co-star with your favorite love interest in a TV romance? A Korean film studio is making it happen today for love-lorn Japanese drama fans.

Korean TV drama series like A Winter Sonata have garnered huge fan bases among Japanese women of a certain age (say, past 40) who dream of co-starring beside the shows' handsome & sensitive make leads. Now it seems dreams can become reality... well, virtual reality at least, thanks to a service from FX Gear that first takes your picture, then puts YOU in the picture!

As explained by Kan2Asia, the technology involved is similar to what is currently being used to show potential customers what they would look like after different types of plastic surgery and/or a new hairstyle.

Once FX Gear's special digital camera takes photos of the subject from various angles, the image files are sent to a studio in Korea. Technicians digitally overlay the subject's face onto that of the chosen star or starlet. The end result is a DVD of the selected TV drama that is then sent to the customer.

This type of technology is still in its early stages and the effect is slightly creepy to say the least. However, the potential is enormous: just imagine putting yourself into not just TV dramas but feature films, music videos, sports events, documentaries, even *ahem* videos of an "adult" nature. Giggity!

Some day, those who don't have the pipes to make it on American Idoll won't have a problem - if you've got the equivalent of 23,800 yen (about $265) to spare, you can go all the way without even having to audition. Suck it, Simon!